Google's Parent Company Is Now The World's Most Valuable Business

Alphabet is currently worth around $568 billion.

Alphabet, the parent corporation of Google, has supplanted Apple as the world's most valuable company.

The tech giant released a stronger than expected fourth-quarter earnings report on Monday, prompting its stock to spike 9 percent in after-hours trading. That jump means Alphabet is now worth close to $568 billion. Apple, now the second-highest valued company, currently hovers at around $535 billion.

Google Finance
A snapshot of Alphabet's stock shows a leap in value in after-hours trading.

This was the first time Alphabet has split its earnings report into different segments to show the success of its various businesses, including YouTube and the search engine Google, as well as "Other Bets," which encompasses ventures like self-driving cars, Google Fiber and home-products business Nest.

In 2015 as a whole, Google earned $74.5 billion in revenue with $23.4 billion of operating income, both up over the year before. But "Other Bets" was a money-loser: the "Other Bets" companies made $448 million in revenue over the course of the year but failed to turn a profit. Those companies lost $3.6 billion in 2015.

"Google takes the crown from Apple today," BGC Financial analyst Colin Gillis told USA Today. "The core business is cranking along and picking up speed. We love it when businesses re-accelerate. It's also [their culture] that could get Google to a trillion dollars that we feel is lacking at Apple. They are building a culture of accountability and more."

Alphabet is only the 12th company in the history of the S&P 500 to be named the index's "most valuable," The Wall Street Journal reports.